Seasoned television actress Marah Louw who seems to have been sacked from popular The Queen telenovela has called Shona Ferguson – the co-owner of production house Ferguson Films a ‘liar’ following a dispute over her contract.
The seasoned singer and stage actress features on The Queen that airs on Mzansi Magic (DStv channel 161) weekdays as Sis Boi, a character many viewers of the show have become attached to.
Louw posted a letter of termination from Ferguson Films on social networks.
In the termination letter, the production company stated that her Global Performers Agreement with The Queen had been terminated.
According to the letter, her contract was terminated due to the direction her role was taking.
Louw, however, said she suspects what led to her contract being terminated was that she refused to shoot one of the episodes.
“I refused because the storyline resembled an incident that is in my book. I told them that I was not going to re-enact my life in a soapie.
“I refused because it is a kind of an incident that I wouldn’t want to go through again, let alone talking about it.
“I told them that they got the story from my book and there’s a copyright issue involved. They asked another actress to act in the episode, which still hurt me.”
Louw said following the incident, she was summoned to a meeting with Shona and another producer. She said in the meeting, Shona broke the news that scriptwriters had run out of ideas.
“I sat there motionless. I was left dumbfounded. I left the meeting without even saying a word. I went straight home and contacted my lawyer.
“We looked at the contract which had a clause that says they can terminate your contract any time they wanted.”
Louw said in October last year, Shona wanted her to come back to shoot on a per-call arrangement for January until March this year.
“I know when you act per call, they can decide to give you two episodes in a month, and there’s nothing you can do. I refused to be paid peanuts because I’m not a monkey.”
She said she felt under-appreciated after 50 years in the industry citing that when she began acting, Shona and Connie were not even born yet.
Explaining why she blurted out on social media, Louw explained: “I’m not a person who fights her issues through the media, but I was compelled to do this after Shona failed to tell the truth. They’re liars, maan!
“I don’t know what they’re talking about when they say I refused (to sign) a contract.”
Shona, however, denied that Louw was fired after her contract, which was supposed to end in May this year, was terminated in September last year. The Chronicle
